There were long traffic jams on the A29 between Bergen op Zoom and Rotterdam on Friday afternoon due to problems with the Haringvliet Bridge. Due to a fault in the bridge deck, the bridge flap could no longer be lowered. Motorists were therefore stuck for hours. The problems were resolved around half past three.
Truck driver Michel van Rijswijk from Tilburg just arrived when the bridge opened. That lasted so long that he saw more and more people getting out of their cars. “After half an hour the funny part wears off, so people went for a walk. I also stretched my legs for a moment and had a chat with my neighbor.”
Last summer the bridge was closed for eight weeks for major maintenance. The valve was then replaced to cope with the increasing traffic. “That was still ringing in my head,” says Michel. “I thought, something could still go wrong, because they have obviously been working on it for a long time. And as if the devil is playing with it, it happens.”
Hannie Schoenmakers from Tilburg, together with her husband and two dogs, also stood still for an hour and a half. “People were walking along the road with babies. And on the other side, where no cars were driving due to the disruption, they were even playing football,” says Hannie. “They indicated that it could take hours. That made me panic a bit.”
Hannie’s dogs were initially sleeping peacefully, but after an hour they got thirsty. “We had already run out of water,” says Hannie. “Luckily we got some water from our ‘neighbours at the back’, who still had some in the car.”
The fault was resolved around half past three and the bridge was lowered again. “In retrospect, luckily it wasn’t too bad, it could have lasted much longer,” says Hannie. And Michel concludes: “Fortunately, I still finished work on time.”
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Last year, the Haringvliet Bridge was closed for eight weeks for a huge maintenance operation
